


A Rose By Any Other Name

by Marichatshipper



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, How Do I Tag, M/M, Major Character Undeath, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26716006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marichatshipper/pseuds/Marichatshipper
Summary: “I’ve seen a lot of bands,” she said. Her smile grew as she watched them pull each other closer. She knew that look. This was a group that wasn’t actually used to having other people tell them how great they were. A need grew inside her to fix that somehow. “Been in a couple myself. I was really feeling it.”“That’s what we do this for. I’m Luke, by the way.” The boy with the shaggy brown hair who had played lead guitar and sang the majority of the song answered. The other boys quickly piped in with their own names.“Nice to meet you guys,” She said. The way the boys interacted reminded her so much of how she and her sister had acted when they were younger. But that was before Victoria had gotten too old for childish behavior. Before she decided to be “respectable,” something her musician sister decidedly was not. “I’m Rose.”A fic about Rose's life and how she connects Julie and the guys.
Relationships: Alex & Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Carlos Molina & Julie Molina, Carlos Molina & Julie Molina & Ray Molina, Carlos Molina & Julie Molina's Mother, Julie Molina & Julie Molina's Mother, Julie Molina's Mother & Aunt Victoria, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Ray Molina/Julie's Mom, Trevor Wilson & Julie's mom
Comments: 10
Kudos: 86





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N So this is my first fic for this fandom and my first fic in a long time. Please be kind. Also a few things. I do not condone what Bobby did. But based on what the show has said, it seems like he and Julie's mom (who is Rose as far as I'm concerned) were friends since she had the studio the band did music in and Carrie and Julie were best friends growing up. This fic will explore that side of Bobby along with the side of him that could betray his friends like that. However, the main focus will be on Rose and her life.
> 
> Also a lot of the dialogue in this chapter is taken from episode 1 of the show as this chapter is setting up for future events. I own nothing. Please do not sue.

**Chapter 1**

She had been wiping the same table for the past five minutes. Normally, sound checks were the time when she was most productive. But at this moment, she just wanted to stop and listen.

As the final chords reverberated throughout the mostly empty club, one thought played through her mind: Sunset Curve was good. Many bands had played on the stage of the Orpheum, but it had been a long time since she saw a group with so much passion for their music. It was like they were channeling every part of themselves into the song, their energy flowing between every member of the band before flowing out to those listening.

She couldn’t wait to see what it was like with a packed audience.

The temporary silence from the front brought her back as she clapped and cheered. The bassist smiled at her and leaned toward his mike. Winking at her, he said, “Thank you! We’re Sunset Curve.”

Shaking her head, she leaned back over the table to finish wiping it down. Her lips pulled into a small smile at the sound of the boys’ conversation. It was nice to see a band that wasn’t completely jaded. A band that still liked each other…

Before she could fall into that pleasant line of thinking, approaching footsteps grabbed her attention. Raising her head, she saw one of the boys approaching her with a cocky smile on his face. It was kind of cute, but not in the way he intended it.

“I’m good,” he said over his shoulder as he waved off the other boys. His attempts didn’t seem to work as they soon followed him over. He turned his gaze back on her as he continued. “Vegetarian. I could never hurt an animal.”

Ignoring his flirtatious tone, she looked at the rest of the group. Smiling, she said, “You guys are _really_ good.”

“Thanks,” they replied smiling at her. Looking at them now, she realized for the first time just how young they were. Everyone working that night had been warned that the band was young and that under no circumstances were they to be given anything from the bar, but it hadn’t really occurred to her just how young they actually were. They couldn’t be more than eighteen.

“I’ve seen a lot of bands,” she said. Her smile grew as she watched them pull each other closer. She knew that look. This was a group that wasn’t actually used to having other people tell them how great they were. A need grew inside her to fix that somehow. “Been in a couple myself. I was really feeling it.”

“That’s what we do this for. I’m Luke, by the way.” The boy with the shaggy brown hair who had played lead guitar and sang the majority of the song answered. The other boys quickly piped in with their own names.

“Nice to meet you guys,” She said. The way the boys interacted reminded her so much of how she and her sister had acted when they were younger. But that was before Victoria had gotten too old for childish behavior. Before she decided to be “respectable,” something her musician sister decidedly was not. “I’m Rose.”

The boys quickly gave her a demo cd and their band shirt. Looking at the shirt, she couldn’t help but think that it didn’t really match the sound the guys had. It needed something…maybe a few rhinestones around the band name to really make it pop? Throwing the shirt onto her shoulder, she looked back at the boys in time to hear them being ushered off for food, leaving only Bobby the vegetarian behind.

He smiled awkwardly at her. Leaning forward, he placed his hand on her recently cleaned table. “So…are you doing anything later?”

She had to shut this down. “Yeah, working until closing then going to see my boyfriend.”

“Oh,” his face immediately fell. A small part of her may have felt the tinniest bit bad, but a much larger part was just grateful that he was dropping it.

“So how did you guys get started?” Rose asked as she moved to another table nearby. He threw her a small, grateful smile that she returned.

“I met the guys in middle school,” he started. They spent the time waiting for the rest of the band to return with him sharing stories of the four of them and Rose setting up the room for the eager club goers who were waiting outside.

When a policeman came into the club to talk to Bobby, Rose was the one who drove him to the hospital.


	2. Every Rose Has Its Thorn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N You guys are great! Thank you all for the comments and kudos! Please note: There is mention of a panic attack in this chapter. Nothing graphic, but be warned. Also, Ray and Rose have not met yet at this point. That's a different chapter. Finally, am I jumping wholeheartedly into the use chapter titles that are puns of Rose's name? Yes, yes I am.

**Chapter 2**

**Every Rose Has Its Thorn**

Rose doesn’t get back to her apartment until morning. Her hands are shaking as she removes the key from the ignition and rests her head against the wheel. Shoulders shaking, she lets a few tears fall for this one moment where she doesn’t have to be strong. Those poor boys…

Bobby had panicked the whole ride to the hospital. She had tried to be reassuring, telling him that many people were hospitalized for food poisoning. It had calmed him slightly, but that calm went away as soon as they entered the emergency waiting room.

As they walked through the doors, Bobby froze. Rose followed his gaze to a man and woman holding each other and crying beside the nurse’s desk. Reaching out, Rose placed a hand on his shoulder, snapping him back to the present.

“Who are they?” She asked, nodding in the general direction of the couple.

“Luke’s parents,” Bobby replied. Hunching his shoulders, he moved a step closer to her, as though he was trying to make himself less noticeable. “He hasn’t contacted them for a year. If they’re here…”

His voice trailed off, but she could fill in the blank. She squeezed his shoulder and moved in front of him, blocking him from view.

“Are you okay to talk to them?”

The panic that had been contained during the car ride seemed to come back tenfold as his eyes widened and his breathing became choppy. Rose could see his pulse pounding in his throat at the idea of approaching the couple.

Rose quickly grabbed his hand and placed it over her collar bone. His attention snapped back to her ever as he struggled to catch his breath. Holding his gaze, Rose sucked in a large breath before releasing it. She kept repeating the action until Bobby began mimicking her, sucking in the air he so desperately needed.

“Thanks,” he gasped, pushing his hair out of his face. Rose nodded as she dropped his hand. “How’d you know to do that?”

“My sister used to get panic attacks,” Rose answered. Ignoring the sadness and anger that always bloomed in her stomach when she talked about Victoria, she continued, “We did this to help her come back to herself.”

She could see the curiosity in his eyes. He had obviously picked up on her tone. Straightening, she stared defiantly back at him, daring him to push. She wasn’t sure if she was grateful or disappointed when he broke her stare.

“I don’t think I can talk to them,” he said, reminding her of the original point. “What would I even say?”

“Look, I get it,” Rose said, glancing back over her shoulder at the crying pair. They didn’t seem scary at the moment with tears in their eyes, but she knew how much a parent’s disappointment could affect a person. She also knew that this wasn’t the ideal time to be facing a friend’s family demons, but there was one key point Bobby seemed to be missing. “But I doubt anyone who works here will tell you anything. At least they might know what’s happening.”

His gaze kept bouncing between her and the couple, taking in her advice. He still looked indecisive, so she added, “Besides, if we stand here much longer, they’re going to notice us anyway.”

That seemed to be the final push Bobby needed. Nodding, he adjusted his jacket and approached the pair. Rose hung back, wanting to give the group privacy. She couldn’t hear what was said, but she saw the moment Bobby started crying. The couple pulled him in and held him between them, all offering to share the pain and any comfort they could manage.

It felt wrong watching, but Rose couldn’t leave until she knew Bobby would be okay. After a few minutes, he pulled away to say a few words to the couple before returning to her side.

“It’s bad,” he whispered, wiping at his face. “Luke’s in surgery, but they aren’t hopeful.”

Rose pulled him forward into a hug, rubbing his back and offering what little comfort she could. She was scared to ask but, “Reggie and Alex?”

A soft sob escaped from him as he buried his face in her neck. She began running her fingers through his hair like she used to do for Victoria when she was little, willing comfort to flow from her fingers to the crying boy in her arms.

“Reggie was gone when the ambulance arrived,” Bobby choked out. “They lost Alex in the ambulance. They said it was a miracle Luke’s hung on this long.”

Rose felt a pang in her heart at the news, but she refused to let any tears fall right now. She hardly knew these boys, but they had been Bobby’s friends. He needed someone to be strong right now and she was the only person who could be.

Looking over, she noticed a few hospital chairs placed nearby. Nudging Bobby slightly, she pulled him over and settled them into the chairs. They sat in silence for hours, her carefully brushing her fingers through his hair and him letting the tears pour out.

As she rested against Bobby, Rose sent out a prayer to whoever may be listening that somehow things would be alright. For anything to make this better.

Light had started pouring in through the doors when the news came that Luke was gone.

***

Rose hastily wipes at her face attempting to remove any sign of the sadness that has clung to her since she and Bobby had arrived at the hospital. Shaking out her shoulders to release some tension she plasters a smile on her face and walks up to her apartment door.

As the door opens, she hears the heated argument of the leads in Maisie’s newest telenovela. Hopefully that means she’ll be too preoccupied to notice Rose sneaking past to her room. She makes it almost to the door before a voice calls out, “The walk of shame is not a good look for you.”

Rose glances at the sky. Someone up there really does not like her. It’s probably grandma Marcella. “I’m not doing the walk of shame, Maisie.”  
  


“Yeah, right,” Maisie says, not taking her eyes from the television where a man and woman are either confessing their love or preparing to fight each other. It’s difficult to tell with Maisie’s programs. “That’s why you didn’t come home last night and are trying to sneak in this morning in a rumpled outfit and major bedhead.”

“Why do you even care?” Rose asked, stung by Maisie’s tone. It’s true that the two weren’t really friends, but the other girl had never given Rose this kind of trouble about staying out all night before. With her job at the club, she rarely got home before three in the morning and there had been nights where she chose to make the trek to Raphael’s, whose place was closer to the Orpheum instead of coming back here.

Maisie finally deigned to give Rose her attention. “Why do I care? I don’t know Rose. Why would I care that my roommate didn’t come home last night? That I had no clue where you were.”

“It’s not like you’ve ever given me the third degree about not coming home before,” Rose returned, too tired after everything to deal with Maisie’s attitude.

“I’ve never had Raphael call to find out where you are!” Maisie yelled back, standing from the couch. Rose’s stomach dropped. “He had no clue where you were. They didn’t know where you went at the club and we couldn’t find you.”

Her last words echoed through the apartment. There was nothing Rose could say. She didn’t regret going with Bobby, but she hadn’t meant to cause Maisie and Rafe panic. It wasn’t like she could explain what happened. They wouldn’t understand her need to stay with a strange boy. Driving him to the hospital was one thing, but staying there with him through the night? Driving him home in the morning? It didn’t make sense.

She couldn’t explain it, but she couldn’t let him be alone. He needed her. No one had needed Rose in such a long time…

“I’m sorry,” Rose whispered. Maisie looked at her for another minute before shaking her head and turning back to the television.

Not knowing what else to say, Rose turned back to her room. As she began to close the door, Maisie called out, “By the way, your boss says that after the stunt you pulled, not to bother coming back.”

Rose paused for a moment before closing the door the rest of the way and leaned against it. Rubbing her face, she thought back to the sad smile Bobby had given her before he left her car and walked the last few feet to his home, appearing so very alone. No, she didn’t regret being there for him at all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, let me know what you think! This story is going to cover a lot of the missing moments of the 25 year jump as well as certain events in the show itself.


	3. Everything's Coming Up Roses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N So I updated the tags a little. This story will be expanding into the tv show as well so there will eventually be Julie/Luke, but it will take a bit to get there. Also sorry for the delay on this. It wasn't coming out how I wanted it and I had to keep changing it. I'm still not fully happy with it, but I needed to just get it out.

Chapter 3

Everything’s Coming up Roses

Rose leaned her head against the door, listening intently for any sound. After a few moments of silence, she slowly opened her bedroom door and peaked out. Maisie was nowhere to be seen and her door was still shut.

Sneaking her way down the hall, she glanced into the living room. Empty. Good. She continued on to the entryway of the apartment. As her hand gripped the knob, she heard the unmistakable sound of Maisie’s door opening. Pushing herself forward, she threw open the door, no longer caring about silence.

Racing down the hall, she slammed into the stairwell, never looking back to see if Maisie would bother coming after her. Yes, it was kind of shitty of her to sneak out like this after everything that had happened last week, but Maisie had made it clear that she still wasn’t letting last week's fight go. Rose wasn’t ready for another lecture or, even worse, to get the silent treatment.

Rose finally made it to the street and began moving in a random direction. She had debated last night if it was worth it to try to get her job at the Orpheum back, but she just couldn’t. Chris, her manager, had always been a jerk and the incident as she had dubbed it, had just cemented why she didn’t want to keep working for him. It was the one thing she had always disliked about the music industry, how cold it could be.

Soon, she had lost track of where she was as she shuffled from one street to another, looking for any sort of business that looked promising. It probably would have taken less time to look in the paper, but she had always been the type that preferred doing over waiting. It was why her band had been able to get their fifteen minutes of fame. They had taken every job they could get and pushed their way into people’s notice.

In the end, that had also been the lynchpin for the band breaking up.

Shaking her head to dislodge _that_ thought, she glanced around, trying to regain her bearings. Across the road, she saw a familiar record shop. She and Victoria had gone there a lot back when they still spoke to each other. Even when Victoria stopped coming, Rose would still stop there whenever her emotions became too much to handle. And it meant that she wasn’t that far from the apartment. Sighing, she crossed the busy street and made her way inside. 

As the bell above the door chimed, Rose took in the rows of records and CDs lining the store. Nodding at the man behind the register who was far more interested in the magazine he was reading than what she was doing, she entered one of the closest rows.

She didn’t know how long she had spent wandering the shop, but an impulse pushed her toward the back corner. Turning the corner of her current aisle, she froze as a familiar figure stood staring down at a small section of CDs that were hidden away among boxes of excess merchandise.

“Bobby?” she asked as she stepped closer. She didn’t want to bother him, but the way his hand was gripping the metal cd stand was worrisome. He turned quickly at the sound of her voice, before a small smile appeared.

“Rose. Hey,” he said, shuffling awkwardly forward as though unsure what he was supposed to do now. “What are you doing here?”

“I live nearby,” she answered. “What are you doing here?”

“Just…” his hand reached out behind him, gesturing vaguely at the section he had been standing in front of. The smile stayed on his face, but his eyes tightened.

Her mind instantly went to her mother who had spent much of Rose’s childhood creating vases and clay works. Rose had tried it once and thought she had done a pretty good job. There had only been one small imperfection in it. At least until it went into the kiln. Then it had shattered.

Stepping around him, she moved to the section he had pointed to. Her breath caught. Reaching forward, she picked up the cd with the familiar logo on it.

“We were going to be legends,” Bobby whispered from next to her. She wanted to reach out to him, but she couldn’t take her eyes from the familiar curve and band name, perfectly mimicking the t-shirt she had left on her desk at home. “Now, they’re gone and Sunset Curve is just a memory stuck in the back of a record shop.”

The sound of his voice breaking on the last word was enough to force her attention away from the cd case in her hand. It was like the pot all over again. The tightening around his eyes had expanded, revealing the imperfections of his unaffected mask. There was so much pain he was trying to hide and it called to the part of her that she had buried years ago.

Tightening her fingers around the case, she reached out and grabbed his wrist, pulling him toward the front of the store. He resisted for a moment, but allowed her to drag him to the front.

“What are you doing?” She would take the confusion in his voice over the sadness any day. Ignoring his question, she dragged him to the counter. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out some of the money she had brought for any emergencies. This seemed like the perfect time to use it.

Bobby was silent as she completed the purchase and accepted the plastic bag with the cd inside it. It was a little worrying that he still hadn’t said anything as they left the store. Had she gone too far?

“Why did you do that?” He asked as they walked together down the street. She was moving them toward a small park she knew of that wasn’t far from the shop.

“Because,” she started as she moved them to a bench. “Now it won’t be forgotten.”

“You are,” Bobby paused as his eyes flicked from the bag clutched in her hand to her face. Rose braced herself for what he might be about to say. Pushy? Overstepping? “A surprising person.”  
  
“Is that a good thing?” She asked, laughing. She hoped he couldn’t see the worry she felt at the question.

“Very good,” he smiled. “We could have used more people like you in our lives before…”

His voice trailed off as the sadness began to come back to his eyes. Not liking the turn his thoughts had taken, she leaned over and nudged him with her shoulder. It worked for the moment, but she knew it was only a matter of time. That kind of pain never really went far. “I’ll take that compliment. Guess that means you’ll just have to keep me around.”

“Yeah?” he asked leaning forward. She quickly reached up and pushed his face away.

“I think both of us could use a good _friend_ ,” she emphasized the last word. He frowned for a second before nodding his head.

“Yeah. At least, I know I could use some,”

“Good,” she answered, reaching into the bag. Pulling out the small slip of paper that had crinkled in the bottom of the bag, she slipped a pen from her pocket.

“You carry pens with you?” The scandalized tone in his voice made her laugh. Yes, he had been on his way to being a rocker, but he was obviously still young.

“Bartender and waitress,” she answered, pointing at herself with the pen. “You never know when you’re going to need one. Here, in case you want to talk or meet up or anything.”

Taking the paper from her, a smile lit up his face at the numbers scrawled across it. He paused for a second before ripping off a section of the paper that was still blank. He looked around for a moment as though searching for something before pointing sheepishly at her pen.

Rose raised an eyebrow at him before she offered him the pen. Oh yes, her point was made.

“Here’s mine. Call whenever,” he handed her back the pen and the section with his number. She smiled as he stood up. “Thanks Rose. Spending time with you has been the one good thing to happen to me in a long time.”

**Author's Note:**

> A/N Please tell me what you think!


End file.
